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UNESCO celebrates opening of Kabarto secondary school for Yazidi IDPs in Dohuk

DOHUK, 18 May 2015 –UNESCO and its partners celebrated today with students, parents and teachers the opening of the newly constructed Kabarto Secondary School for internally displaced persons in Dohuk.

The ceremony held today marks the opening of the fourth school constructed by UNESCO within the framework of the project ‘Providing access to quality education to adolescents and young adults in conflict-affected areas in Iraq’, funded by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The opening of Kabarto secondary school in Dohuk follows the opening of the Baharka Secondary School, the Dawodiyah Secondary School and the Migrant Birds Intermediate School and is another milestone in UNESCO’s efforts to provide quality education to children and adolescents of IDP communities and to ensure equal opportunities to education for both girls and boys.

Welcoming the students, UNESCO Project Manager Zulfiqar Ali said, “Education brings about peace and stability to the lives of IDPs, and the opening of Kabarto secondary school is your opportunity to get the education you deserve.’

The opening ceremony was held in the presence of government and education officials from the Ministries of Education Baghdad and Erbil, UN Agencies, International NGOs, and civil society organizations as well as students, parents and teachers.

Both the Deputy Governor of Duhok, Syed Mazen and the Director General of Education in Dohuk, Abid Yousef, expressed their gratitude to UNESCO, the Ministries of Education of Baghdad and Erbil and the Kingodm of Saudi Arabia for their support in establishing the secondary school.

“Ensuring that IDPs continue their education is our responsibility,” stated Mazen during his opening speech.

There are 2328 families living in Kabarto camp with a population of 14,190 people, 90% of them are from the Yazidi communities that fled from Sinjar.

With its 6 classrooms, 14 toilets, a play area as well as a common room for the teachers, the Kabarto Secondary School will host up to 500 students and 20 teachers in two shifts.